Secret
by BoatsAgainstTheCurrent
Summary: A story to show the truth of the Chambers family and Lachance family. I don't want to give too much away. But everyone, please read and review and tell me what you think.
1. Prologue

**A.N: A new short story to show a different side of the two most talked about families of Castle Rock. Hope you guys enjoy and review. This is just the prologue to give some background and such. Thanks guys. **

_Many people had heard of the Chambers family before, in fact everyone in town had. Everyone knew of the lunatic father who spent his time beating his kids after a long day of drinking. Everyone knew of Frank Chambers, the oldest brother of the family, who was in prison for raping a girl. Everyone knew of Eyeball Chambers, or Richard, who was in the most feared gang in Castle Rock. And most certainly, everyone knew of Christopher Chambers, the youngest of them all. He had never done anything prison-worthy or hate-worthy before, but because his last name was Chambers, everyone knew he would turn out just like his family. _

_One could say everything was to be blamed on the father. One could think it was him who caused all the horror in his family's life, and this might have been true, but there was another side to the story; a side that no one knew of. _

_But before I start the story, there is a crucial part of it that needs to be described. This is where the Lachance family comes into play. _

_Of course there was the father, Mr. Lachance, who some people in town knew as the bitter guy. Everyone knew that after his oldest son Denny's death, he would never be the same. He didn't exactly grieve, but as I said before, he was a bitter man. He didn't speak much or leave the house much except for work. He most definitely spoke rarely to his youngest son Gordon, and when he did, he was unloving and uncaring. But even before Denny's death, he was not a good father to his youngest. _

_His wife Dorothy was that loving figure that Gordon needed. But that was also before Denny had passed. Afterwards, she was only overcome with sadness and a grief that couldn't be described._

_Everyone of course knew that Christopher Chambers and Gordon Lachance had been best friends before anyone could even remember. And everyone knew this was a disaster for both families. After all, Mr. Lachance despised families like the Chambers'. He called them scum and dirty, disgusting humans, and he didn't want his son near any of them. Mr. Chambers of course hated the fact that Christopher was hanging around an intellectual and a kid that only made his family appear filthy. Both Gordon and Christopher knew that they weren't supposed to be friends, but they were anyway._

_These were the two families of importance. To the town of Castle Rock, they were only a form of gossip (especially the Chambers'), but they were holding a secret so great, if anyone knew, everything in town would change. _

_The biggest part of it was that only the parents knew that secret. None of their children did, and they were determined to keep it that way. _

_Mrs. Lachance walked around town at times, and when she caught the eye of Mrs. Chambers, she simply turned away. They never spoke, they never interacted, and they tried to never come near each other._

_Though they tried, the secret couldn't remain so forever. _

_The whole town would change very suddenly. _


	2. The Secret

Thanks to my reviewers, Izout, Duck, and CherryCokesAndWinterSmokes. I also want to thank Izout for favoriting and following. And thanks to Droupy48 for following. I'm really glad you guys all like the mystery aspect of this story. I hope you guys review this chapter and also like what the secret is :)  
Thanks again!

**Chapter Two:**

The beginning of this story starts out before Gordon and Christopher were even born.  
It was a typical day in Castle Rock; still, silent, and one could even call it serene.  
It was a midsummer day in the year 1946.  
Mr. Chambers was home and he was fed up. "Another day filled with shit," he would complain to his pregnant wife as he slouched down onto the brown couch.  
Mrs. Chambers was forced to take care of herself through stages of the pregnancy. The pain didn't bother her husband. He let her deal with it on her own.  
Mrs. Chambers couldn't figure out what had suddenly gotten into her husband. He hadn't been like this previously. In the past few days, he came home from work drunk. He roamed the house, cursing and raging, inflicting fear on his wife. He didn't even speak with her anymore unless he had to. On occasion, he asked how she was doing, but it was rare and even then, he would go directly back to his mood.  
Over in the Lachance residence, a similar sort of problem was going on. Mr. Lachance had a pregnant wife as well, and though he tried to be of help and support to her, his mind was on something else.  
He sat at home while his wife cooked dinner and rummaged around in the kitchen, sometimes clumsily because of her bulging belly.  
He seemed distant, and Mrs. Lachance could notice there was something wrong because when she asked him a question, he responded with the same exact motion as always; a small head nod with his eyes looking into the distance.  
Even as he read the daily newspaper, he wasn't entirely focused on it.  
But the poor woman didn't dare ask what was going on with him. She thought it best to stay out of his business. She didn't want to make things worse.  
So day after day continued and my many words were exchanged. In both households, the mood was glum. There was only the few times of drunken rage from Mr. Chambers. Then he would go back to sitting on the couch, not uttering a word.  
After many months, the drunkenness became even worse. Steadily, Mr. Chambers became a lunatic, throwing beer bottles and slurring all of his words together as he spoke.  
His wife was genuinely concerned. With her baby due any day, she didn't want the child coming into the world having to face such a father.  
Now here is the part of the story where things get a bit insane. This is the part where in years to come, know one in Castle Rock would have believed it if you had told them.  
When both Mrs. Chambers and Mrs. Lachance were just freshly pregnant, their husbands had been friends. They were quite inseparable in fact. They had been close friends for years, stemming from their youth.  
Now, their wives up until that point knew of their friendship. They too were friends; they were in the Women's Auxilary together and in the knitting circle.  
Once Mr. Chambers and Mr. Lachance changed suddenly, neither one of them understood what was going on. They continued to speak on the phone with one another, exchanging long conversations and whispering to each other late at night, wondering what could possibly be going on.  
A few times, their husbands had walked in on them speaking silently, and had almost overheard the entire thing.  
So for many months, even after the birth of both of their sons, Mrs. Chambers and Mrs. Lachance pondered the strangeness of their husbands' attitudes.  
Mr. Chambers didn't stop drinking. His problem grew worse and worse, and right off the bat, he wasn't the caring father that Christopher needed as an infant.  
Mr. Lachance also continued to seem uninterested and distant from his family. He was too busy looking depressed and tired, he didn't look after Gordon.  
Mrs. Lachance sometimes stood in the kitchen with the baby, looking through the window, watching her husband in one of his rare happy moments, playing a round of baseball with his first son, Denny.  
On those days, he had a small smile on his face, and he would kiss his wife gently on the cheek and stroke Gordon's soft face.  
But Dorothy Lachance was still too afraid to ask what was going on.  
It took both her and Mrs. Chambers a very long time to realize what had happened to their husbands' dear friendship.  
On one late, stormy October night, they spoke over the phone, and finally came to the conclusion; Mr. Chambers and Lachance's friendship had diminished.  
After that night, the two women also slowly drifted from each other, and when they passed on the street, they simple turned away from each other.  
People in the town began to gossip more and more about those two families. They spoke of the strange silence between the husbands and the wives. And once Gordon and Christopher grew up, there was even more gossip about them.  
Chris had become the kid who would turn out just like his father.  
He grew up believing he was worthless and Gordon grew up feeling neglected by his own father.  
Never would they know about the old relationship between their fathers. Never would they know that their fathers had once been kinder, fathers who didn't have stone cold hearts.  
Sometimes, Mrs. Lachance lay in bed next to her husband, and she wondered, though much of the reason that he didn't want his son to be around Christopher was because he was no longer friends with his father, there was also another part to the story. She wondered, maybe another part was that he didn't any son of his to face the same heartbreak he had. He might have worried that one day, his own son would face such sadness. If he wasn't friends with Christopher, then there could be no chance of heartbreak.  
Mrs. Lachance lay wondering this some nights, as she stared at her snoring husband.  
That might have been part of the reason.  
But the world would never know.


End file.
